Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault: Insights from Victim Advocates

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Jun 11, 2024

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Chapter 2: Literature Review Sexual assault has been embedded in the foundation of the United States as well as the intersection with race since Christopher Columbus discovered it in 1942. Sexual assault, including rape and sexual assault, is a widespread problem in the United States, with an estimated 81% of women and 43% of men experiencing some sort of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime (Kearl, 2018). Following an assault, victims must decide whether or how to seek help, including whether to report the crime (Lonsway & Archambault, 2020). Many victims opt not to report: Only 5%–24% of these incidents are formally reported to law enforcement or other authorities (Jacques-Tiural, 2010; Lorenz, 2019; Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), 2021). Reasons given for not reporting include victim shaming, judgmental comments after the assault, and lack of trust in the first responder (McQueen et al., 2021; Pohane, 2021). Victims may also resist reporting to first responders because they fear not being believed (Gravelin et al., 2019). Underreported rape and sexual assaults are problematic for several reasons. On the most basic level, not reporting these crimes impacts the ability to determine their true magnitude and the ability to prosecute them (Krebs et al., 2022). The lack of reporting can also result in victims not receiving the physical, mental, and moral support available through formal support systems (Patterson & Tringali, 2015; Shahali et al., 2016; Walsh et al., 2010).

While it is known that barriers to reporting exist in formal reporting systems, whether there are barriers related to specific aspects of these systems is not known. Of the various professionals in formal reporting systems, victim advocates (VAs) have a unique role as they are with victims from the beginning to the end of the disclosure process (Lorenz et al., 2019; Patterson & Tringali, 2015). Through this process, they assist victims of sexual assault toward recovery through advocacy and resource information (USA Jobs, 2022). This assistance can include crisis intervention, safety planning, referral, ongoing nonclinical support, and serving as a resource on available options to assist victims in making informed decisions regarding reporting options and care (USA Jobs, 2022). The specific research problem that will be addressed through this study is exploring victim advocates’ perspectives on barriers to reporting sexual assault in formal systems and how to overcome barriers to reporting from the viewpoint of individuals responsible for working with victims and the professionals who provide services to them. The purpose of this Qualitative study is to explore the barriers to formal disclosure of sexual assault and possible ways to address these barriers from the perspectives of VAs. Findings from this study may help to inform approaches to address these barriers, with the overall goal of improving reporting rates of these incidents, which in turn may result in more victims receiving the help they need and more of these crimes being prosecuted. Exploring barriers to reporting from the VA’s perspective may also help to inform a more cohesive and supportive formal reporting process. Literature Search Strategy

In this research strategy, the primary resources used were primarily peer-reviewed academic journal articles accessed through the Walden University Library. The searches involved in this research involved both psychological and criminal databases. The focus topics of this search within these databases were sexual assault and victim advocacy. In addition to the Walden Library, secondary and tertiary searches were utilized. These libraries included: APA PsychNet, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, ProQuest Central, ProQuest Dissertations, PsycARTICLES, APA PsycINFO, SAGE Premier, and ResearchGate. Utilizing the EBSCO Discovery Service library using the search term sexual assault returned hundreds of thousands of results. To narrow the search, Boolean search parameters were set and the following keywords were used: assault, bias, education, effects of military sexual assault or sexual trauma, effects of military sexual trauma, experience, female rape, gender bias, intake statements, interviews, law enforcement, male rape, military, military sexual trauma, military sexual trauma AND military culture, perceptions, police officer, qualitative, rape, rape myth, recidivism, sexual assault AND PTSD AND mental health, sexual assault reporting, sexual assault response, sexual trauma, sexual violence, victim, victim advocate, and victimology. This literature search included peer-reviewed articles and journals within the last five years; however, some in the range of 10 to 20 years for historical concepts were included. This helped benefit the research for historical purposes and fill the gaps in the literature as there is little research on the perspective of victim advocates. Theoretical Framework

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The theories and/or concepts that ground this study include Bronfenbrenner’s (1979; 1986; 1995) ecological theory, which is one theory that will apply to better-understanding perspectives of sexual assault barriers in formal system reporting. This theory will assist in better understanding the relationship between individuals and their environment. When a victim chooses to disclose their assault, their reaction may be different than another person who reports their assault (Koss & Figueredo, 2004). Bronfenbrenner (1979) presumed five systems are supporting human development. Microsystems are in one’s immediate environment. These microsystems are close to this person and encompass relationships and interactions that possess the greatest influence in informal support such as families, friends, and peers (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Campbell et al., 2009). Mesosystems are interconnections and linkages that support a person’s bond closer to their microsystem (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The exosystem of human development is a larger social system, in which one does not personally interact, but where they can feel supportive or negative assistance occurring from these formal support systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Campbell et al., 2009). A macrosystem consists of societal norms such as rape victim myths, expectations, and beliefs that represent a culture or community a person can be exposed (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Campbell et al., 2009). Lastly, the chronosystem encompasses changes occurring over one’s life as it relates to their environment (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Campbell et al., 2009). According to Bronfenbrenner (1979), these systems can be similar or comparable to one another, meaning they can function in comparable ways or can contrast significantly due to an individual’s role.

In victim advocacy, these different ecological systems can be observed as when and to whom the victim discloses, barriers they face when reporting/disclosing, and who they choose in their support systems; informal (family and friends) and formal (legal and medical services). Bronfenbrenner’s (1979; 1986; 1995) ecological theory is relevant to better understand victim advocates’ perspectives on barriers to reporting in formal systems and how to overcome barriers to reporting from the viewpoint of individuals responsible for working with victims and the professionals who provide services to them. Sexual Assault Sexual assault, legality, and health problems stemming from sexual assault are still very prevalent in communities around the world (Dworkin et al., 2021). Sex crimes are complex and multidimensional; over the past few decades, sexual assaults have gained public attention and become one of the highest topics talked about (Hargas et al., 2011). Dealing with the victims of sexual assault is traumatizing and challenging. The basic skill of communication with the victim is paramount. This simple skill helps collect relevant information for assessing and evaluating the victim’s needs as well as in helping reduce and/or eliminate victimization. This helps in laying the foundation for appropriate care, which may include prevention and management of sexually transmitted diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), emergency contraception, and immediate follow-up services, including counseling and community-based sexual assault advocacy (Patel et al., 2013).

Despite numerous policies and programs that have led to major improvements for sexual assault survivors, there are still many challenges. The consequences of sexual harassment and sexual assault are similar. They both can contribute to poorer health, mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, as well as work and relationship difficulties (Stander & Thomsen, 2016). The public’s beliefs and attitudes regarding sexual assault result in the complacency and adaptation of rape culture, which preserves the normalization and tolerance of rape (Lownsway & Fitzgerald, 1994). This acceptance makes for an environment in which sexual assault survivors find it difficult to get justice and discourages them from seeking help. Due to a powerful feminist movement in the 1970s on the nature of sexual assaults, the inadequacies in the criminal legal system that addressed sexual assaults were focused on reforming sexual assault laws and the way trials were to be handled (Hayes, 2016; Hill, 2011). This empowered numerous legal scholars to not only dive into the scrutiny on the reform of sexual assault laws but to also change sexual assault trials and the demands they imposed on the survivors during their trial ( The Rape Corroboration Requirement: Repeal Not Reform, 1972) . Sociologist Erving Goffman and theorists Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida spearheaded this debate for scholars to delve into and pay attention to the language used in these trials “ arguing that linguistic analyses could reveal much that legal analyses could not” (Stern, 2022, p. 3). Numerous legal scholars, linguists, and sociologists all came to the same conclusion when it came to almost every stage of the trial; “prosecutors’ framings to defense attorneys’ cross- examinations to jurors’ deliberations…these trials obscured the truth, favored defendants, and harmed survivors” (Stern, 2022, pp. 3-4).

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Legal procedures and trials rarely catch the attention of the public and even fewer are subject to the “scrutiny or condemnation” of sexual assault trials (Stern, 2022, p. 2). Stern (2022) pointed out that fictional trials like Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird to real trials like Harvey Weinstein in 2020 have intrigued popular audiences. Those seeking to end gendered violence know the rarity of the deliverance of a conviction for a survivor (Hagerty, 2020). Throughout a sexual assault trial, horrific details of the assault are displayed as well as previous sexual relationships which in turn can be a humiliating ritual of revictimization, essentially placing blame on the survivor and feeling like they are on trial rather than the accused (Capers, 2013). Even though the foundation of research was somewhat prevalent, it was still in the early stages of gaining traction in the eyes of communities around the world. Community-based rape crisis centers emerged in the 1970s, and those that were responding to sexual assaults knew the prevalence of sexual assault was rampant in our societies (Campbell & Wasco, 2005). Diana Russell and Mary Koss were the researchers who would change the trajectory and prevalence of sexual assault in the 1980s (Campbell & Wasco, 2005). Russell’s (1984) study of women that lived in San Francisco revealed 26 percent experienced rape and 46 percent had experienced a completed or attempted rape. Russell’s (1984) evidence found in her survey of women in San Francisco was 13 times higher for an incident of rape or attempted rape than in the Uniform Crime Reports. Koss et al. (1987) conducted a national random survey of college women and found that 44 percent of women reported unwanted sexual contact through coercion. Within this same survey, 19 percent of males admitted to obtaining sexual intercourse through coercion (Koss et al., 1987). In another survey conducted by Koss and her colleagues, out of 53 males,

30% were sexually coercive towards women and stated they knew their victims well (Koss et al., 1985).

References Campbell, R., & Wasco, S. M. (2005). Understanding rape and sexual assault: 20 years of progress and future directions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence , 20 (1), 127. Capers, B. (2013). Real women, real rape. UCLA Law Review , 60 (4), 826–882. Dworkin, E. R., Krahé, B., & Zinzow, H. (2021). The global prevalence of sexual assault: A systematic review of international research since 2010. Psychology of Violence, 11 (5), 497–508. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000374 Hagras, A. M., Moustafa, S. M., Barakat, H. N., & El-Elemi, A. H. (2011). Medico-Legal evaluation of child sexual abuse over a six-year period from 2004 to 2009 in the Suez Canal area, Egypt. Egyptian journal of forensic sciences , 1 (1), 58-66. Hagerty, B.B. (2020, February 24). The Weinstein verdict shows why rape convictions are so rear. Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/rape conviction-rare/607009/ Haynes, A. (2016). Redefining rape: Sexual violence in the era of suffrage and segregation. The Historian , 78 (3), 522. Hill, K. K. (2011). At the dark end of the street: black women, rape, and resistance-a new history of the civil rights movement from Rosa Parks to the rise of black power. Choice, 48 (6), 1151-1152. https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/at dark-end-street-black-women-rape-resistance/docview/862162008/se-2 Koss, M. P., Gidycz, C. A., & Wisniewski, N. (1987). The scope of rape: Incidence and prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of higher education students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 162-170. Koss, M. P., Leonard, K. E., & Beezley, D. A. (1985). Nonstranger sexual aggression: a

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discriminant analysis of the psychological characteristics of undetected offenders. Sex Roles , 12 , 981–992. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288099 Lonsway, K.A., & Fitzgerald, L.F. (1994). Rape myths. In review. Psychology of women quarterly, 18 (2), 133-164 Patel, A., Roston, A., Tilmon, S., Stern, L., Roston, A., Patel, D., & Keith, L. (2013). Assessing the extent of provision of comprehensive medical care management for female sexual assault patients in US hospital emergency departments. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics , 123 (1), 24-28. Russell, D.E.H. (1984). Sexual exploitation: Rape, child sexual abuse, and workplace harassment. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. Stern, S.W. (2022). Article: Shadow trials, or a history of sexual assault trials in the Jim Crow South. UCLA Women's Law Journal, 29, 257. https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=analyticalmaterials&id=urn:c ontentItem:668M-K371-F016-S4G4-00000-00&context=1516831 . Schwartz, S. (1983). An argument for the elimination of the resistance requirement from the definition of forcible rape. Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review , 16 (3), 567 602. The Rape Corroboration Requirement: Repeal Not Reform. (1972). The Yale Law Journal , 81 (7), 1365–1391. https://doi.org/10.2307/795246

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